Greengate Academy

Chapter 2

     "I can't take anymore packing. Come on, let's go out and visit the stable. You did see it, right?" Maddie's voice peeks out from the bathroom, where she was hanging up the shower curtain and placing the fuzzy sea foam rugs she had chosen.

     "I did go down there to settle in Cole but I didn't get a chance to really take it in." I admitted. While opening boxes and putting things away, Maddie and I had talked about our horses and families. She knew about my uncle's horse farm and I knew about her mother's bakery.

     Her face lit up again after she brushed off her hands. "Come on, this'll be exciting! I can show you the stable and explain the lesson program as well, not that it's that difficult to understand."

     I followed her out the door and into the elevator. I watched as her red painted fingernail hit the first floor button. After a couple seconds of waiting we were able to leave the dorm and make our way across campus. It wasn't until we were standing outside of the glorious stable that I had to stop in my tracks.

     "Wow," I breathed. Maddie nodded, smiling over at me.

     "Amazing, isn't it? Come on, the horses look even better." Laughing, she took my hand and dragged me out of my reverie and into the barn. The outer white walls contrasted with a stone base. A black roof was stark against the light blue sky. It was early afternoon, and perfect weather for a ride. I wasn't going to push Cole, though. He was a skittish horse and took a while to settle in to new places. He also has separation anxiety,which makes going to shows hard because they're very stressful on him.

     The inside was even better than the outside. Beautifully sculpted heads poked through stall doors in welcoming and a search for carrots. Some less social horses were attacking their hay nets. A few naughty ones cribbed or kicked their doors. Each stall was adorned with a nameplate that gleamed as bright as the coats pouring over strong, trembling muscles.

     Each stall had dark brown boards and black iron bars. The doors were sliding doors, but had openings in the bars so the horses could stick their heads out like they were now. Each fan was on full blast, making Maddie hard to hear.

     "There are multiple aisles. Some are for students' horses, and then there's one for lesson horses and one for the instructors' horses." Maddie said over the distinct hum, "Here, my horse is in the next aisle over."

     I followed her obediently. Already, she seemed like the leader type. She was confident and funny. I think I got pretty lucky in the roommate department.

     We stopped in front of one of the stalls. There was a new looking tack box in front of it.

     The head of an eager bay popped through the bars to say hello. Maddie smiled and rubbed Willow's cheek. I looked down at the nameplate. Pretty Perfect - Willow.

     "That's a cute name," I commented, making Maddie glow with even more pride. She slipped Willow a little treat and smiled as Willow crunched happily.

     "Do you remember what stall Cole was in?" Maddie asked. Oh yes, it was time to show her my boy!

     "Yeah, I think he's in the next aisle over." We walked further up the aisle and then down another aisle perpendicular to the first one.

     "This is basically the main aisle. It has doors leading to the tack room, lounges, offices, the indoor arena, et cetera et cetera." Maddie explained to me. I nodded and watched as people walked by. I couldn't help but notice the quality saddles in their arms, with leather looking so smooth I just wanted to reach out and touch it. Of course I didn't; I'm not that weird.

     Walking down the next aisle, I finally saw a familiar tack box. It was large and wooden, with Collins on it in brass. Big beautiful brown eyes looked at me from the stall behind it.

     Cole let out a whinny that rang through the barn. He looked riled up. I hurried up my walk to get to him.

     I looked over at Maddie's concerned face. "He's not used to being left alone, so he whinnies a lot. I think he'll grow out of it since he's already gotten better. He just needs to get used to being alone, y'know?"

     "Yeah, maybe. I just don't want him getting too panicked. He looks too sweet to be so scared." She reaches her hand out for him to sniff. Immediately, he bumps her hand, looking for a treat.

     "Piggy," I say with the hint of a laugh in my voice. "He's not afraid of people at all. He's actually pretty forward and outgoing." I reach into my pocket and pull out an old, but still good, treat for him. It got gobbled immediately.

     "Maybe tomorrow we'll go for a ride." I looked into his eyes and rubbed his little nose. Realising I'm not handing over anymore treats, he left us to go to his haynet.

     "It's good that he's eating." Maddie said.

    "Oh, so is this the famous new girl I've been hearing about?" I heard a voice behind me. I turned around.

     "Shut up, Connor, and leave her alone." Maddie snapped. The boy, who I feel confident assuming is Connor, shot her a look.

     "I'm just welcoming the newcomer. This is your horse?" Connor looked into the stall. "Could use a little more muscle. Hey, haven't I seen you before? Were you at the County Fair show?"

     I nodded, deciding to be cautious with my words. "Yeah, we were in the walk-trot-canter and the 1'6" to 2' green hunters. He is pretty green, so it's not like he's as conditioned as some of the other horses here." I defended Cole. No one was going to tell me what I needed to do with my horse.

     "Based on your performance over fences, I can tell." Connor snorts, smirking at himself. I give him a glare that I hope looks icy, and start to speak.

     "Listen, don't act like you know more than me or that your better than me, because I might just be better than you think. I made it into this academy; I think that's enough to show I belong in your league." I tell him. He smiles and "humphs".

     "Yeah, well we'll see about that. Maybe sometime we'll catch each other in a class together." He gives me a smile, showing off dimples, and walks off, joining a group of three boys.

     "Don't let him get to you. He's normally really shy, but he is a good rider. I don't know why he chose to be such a jerk to you." Maddie tried to reassure me.

     I didn't know either. I did know, however, that I did not like him. Not one bit.